Game time: Sat. October 24; 6:00 p.m., Spectrum Center, Charlotte
TV: WPLG Local 10, NBA League Pass
Betting line: Heat -3.5
VITALS
The Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets meet for the first of four matchups this regular season. Last season, they faced off five times with their matchups culminating in the Play-In Tournament where Charlotte defeated Miami by one point in overtime, keeping them out of the playoffs. Miami won the regular season series (3-1) and has currently won seven of the last 10 overall against Charlotte. The Heat are 83-50 all-time versus the Hornets during the regular season, including 48-19 at home and 35-31 on the road. Tonight is the second of a back-to-back for both teams.
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Miami is having a rough week so far. It began when the team lost their season opener by 25 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves in front of their home crowd on Wednesday night. The sluggish play carried into Friday evening when Miami, at home, lost to the Detroit Pistons. The team’s shiny new acquisition, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has been playing like his MVP self, scoring over 35 points in both games but it hasn’t been enough to push the team toward a victory yet. Klay Thompson, Bobby Portis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Nick Richards made their team debuts this week as well with Thompson shooting a dreadful 18 percent from three-point range on 11 shots on Friday.
Charlotte is entering the season as one of the favorites to come in last in the Eastern Conference. After dealing LaMelo Ball to the Timberwolves this offseason, the team is fully still in their rebuilding period. The Hornets opened their season on Wednesday, beating the Brooklyn Nets, who are another team destined to finish near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings by the end of the regular season. However, they suffered a 47-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, which became the Hawks’ largest blowout in franchise history.
PROJECTED STARTERS
Miami Heat
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G Davion Mitchell
G Klay Thompson
F Andrew Wiggins
F Giannis Antetokounmpo
C Bam Adebayo
Charlotte Hornets
G Coby White
G Kon Knueppel
F Brandon Miller
F Naz Reid
C Moussa Diabate
INJURY REPORT
Miami Heat
NO REPORTED INJURIES
Charlotte Hornets
G/F Kon Knueppel (hamstring) – GAME-TIME DECISION
G Coby White (calf) – GAME-TIME DECISION
F Grant Williams (hamstring) – GAME-TIME DECISION
G Robert Dillingham (wrist) – PROBABLE
G Kylan Boswell (knee) – OUT
QUOTABLES
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on the team’s back-to-back following Friday’s loss: “We don’t need rest. Just drop us off in parachutes for this game tomorrow night. We just need to get out there and compete again.”
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Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on the Heat’s three-point shooting performance in Friday’s loss: “We had good open looks. If I had to judge it, I think our threes were more open than their threes. I truly thought we would get back into it just because of the process.”
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